The Ministry of Environment and Energy is launching a rapid release of electrical space on the ADMIE grid from stalled projects to unlock new renewable energy projects that will contribute to the goal of accelerating energy transition. ADMIE has submitted final proposals for connecting to the grid with a total capacity of 12 gigawatts. Of this total portfolio, 9 gigawatts of power corresponds to projects that are not developed and take up valuable electrical space for the development of healthy portfolios. The Ministry of Environment and Energy is launching a regulation that sets strict deadlines for signing a connection contract with ADMIE, after which connection offers will be lost, which will also eliminate virtual and real investment interest. According to the information and on the basis of the relevant proposals received by the Minister of the Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas from the competent authorities – and which will take the form of legislation – projects that have received final proposals for connection by December 31, 2020 will have to withhold them in order to apply for the conclusion of an agreement on accession within three months after its conclusion. The corresponding period is set at six months for projects that received final connection conditions within two years from 2021 to 2022, and twelve months for projects that receive connection conditions after 2022. The intervention follows the ministry’s decision to prioritize renewable energy projects last year. August will contribute, in addition to accelerating the implementation of new RES projects, to a more efficient use of existing network capacities, which means significant savings on new networks, the costs of which are borne by consumers.

The provision will be included in a bill to fully integrate the European REDII (Renewable Energy Directive) directive for RES, which is expected to be voted on in Parliament in February. It should be noted that the deadline for including the directive expired on June 30, 2021, and our country received a warning letter from the Commission a little later (as did other Member States). To date, Greece has transposed only some parts of the directive into national law.

The goal of the Ministry of Energy is to eliminate virtual and real investment interest.

With the same bill, the Ministry of Environment and Energy will pave the way for the use of virtual energy compensation by the high-voltage industry, as well as the inclusion in the favorable institution of energy communities and small and medium-sized enterprises from all sectors, interventions that are expected to help solve the larger problem of providing long-term stable costs for the business. High-voltage industries will be able to produce and consume energy (self-consumption) also due to the compensation of virtual energy, i.e. from photovoltaics, which is not necessarily located in the same or adjacent space, without introducing excess energy into the system, provided that RES projects will be accompanied by a battery (accumulator). High voltage will be able to use a total capacity of 2 gigawatts for its own consumption in this category.

At the same time, the regulation will create a new category of energy communities – professional energy communities, which will also be able to develop virtual energy grid projects with a battery, the cost of which will even be subsidized. In February, if not earlier, legislative regulation is expected to abolish the ceiling on the production of renewable energy sources associated with bilateral contracts for physical supply with the industry. The Home Office side, despite industry reaction, does not appear to be extending the ceiling removal for virtual bilateral contracts either. However, the ministry is preparing to submit a request to the Commission for a six-month extension of the wholesale market ceiling mechanism, which expires in June.